Vladimir - worth it?

I have 20 euro to spend and can't decide what to do. I was planning on buying 3.6k RP for a long time now to buy Vladimir and BLoodlord skin. With the 400 RP from Riot I would still have enough to buy another 6.3k champion. Today I see this offer Blizz did with 25% off faction change (18.75E now) and I really can't decide what to do.

I am ask you this: is Vladimir efficient in ranked games? Does he get banned too often?

He's a powerful top laner where many common picks are unable to capitalize on his weaknesses in his early levels (pre 5 I'd say) and have difficulty dealing with him afterwards due to his strong combination of sustain and harass. He also scales very well with items (similar to ryze in that regard) and works well team fights thanks to his aoe dmg and amplification from his ult.
He can work as a mid laner as well but his vulnerability against burst and early aggression makes him a less frequent pick in this lane (though he's one the few who can deal with morgana reasonably well)

As for bans; he certainly sees some in the pro/tournament scene but in solo queues you'll rarely see bans targeted at specific team comps (aoe/double AP in vlad's case) and there's only room for so many bans past shen/morg/other common picks.

I love Vlad and I never regretted buying him. Get past his weak early levels and you'll be set for the rest of the game.

But please don't play him mid unless it's to counter someone. He gets eaten too easily because of his weak early game. I just wrecked one as Ahri (with Bloodlord skin) because he wasn't able to kill me before I killed him and my harass was way better.

I hated Vlad when I first played him. I'm still not as good with him as I'd like to be but I like him quite a bit now (same deal happened to me with Fizz and Wukong).

Like Fizz and Kennen, you can't play him like most other AP toons and you have to get used to playing him specifically before you can start being effective. He also needs a different rune set since he doesn't use mana, and also has kind of a weird base item build too. Very fun and pretty rewarding to learn though.

I bought Vlad a few months back and I enjoyed his style. He has a lot of sustain and a good survivability spell which is what I like. I haven't played him a lot since i bought him tbh because I bought Ezreal and I am loving him atm and not because of the whole Pulsefire thing because I got him before I even knew about that. OT: Vlad is a solid purchase and a lot of fun

I love Vlad and I never regretted buying him. Get past his weak early levels and you'll be set for the rest of the game.

But please don't play him mid unless it's to counter someone. He gets eaten too easily because of his weak early game. I just wrecked one as Ahri (with Bloodlord skin) because he wasn't able to kill me before I killed him and my harass was way better.

One thing that makes me chuckle a bit and havent to this day been able to confirm it or not, but why do people often mention that the opponent had a skin for the champ... Do some people really evaluate players by skins? At least for me theyre just skins, ill buy one if its cool, not because Im super duper skilled with the champ and to advertise it...

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One thing that makes me chuckle a bit and havent to this day been able to confirm it or not, but why do people often mention that the opponent had a skin for the champ... Do some people really evaluate players by skins? At least for me theyre just skins, ill buy one if its cool, not because Im super duper skilled with the champ and to advertise it...

It's more when I see someone with a skin I expect them to be at least decent with the champ and know how to play it (PFE being the exception). Even more so when it's a legendary skin or on a champ I don't see as often.

You never stop casting. And you litterary spam Q and E. The build is so strong that if you farm good you can 1 shot creep with E on 3 stacks at level 4.

Works in all lanes IMO.

Try not to invest in a warmog. its better to go directly for AP as you deal insane damage with E if you prestack 1-2 times before fighting dont be afraid to lose health as vlad. just make sure to Q inbetween every E you do(of course you can prestack without Qing inbetween but don't overdo it).

Vlad is really strong with Cooldown / AP.

I suggest Flash+Ghost so you can escape and snipe since you are somewhat fragile in the start. begin with a regrowth pedant and go for E > Q or W > E and invest in whatever after that... go Q if you need to play defensive or go E if you feel safe and cocky enough.